International Communication Policy Quiz

International Communication Policy

• Firms must decide on product standardization/adaptation strategies.
• International promotion is crucial for communicating with customers, giving them the information needed for purchasing decisions.
• Product and promotion decisions are interconnected.
• Culturally sensitive issues must be considered in all decisions.
• Decisions about message and channels are essential.

Communication Tools

• Advertising is the most visible part of promotion mixes.
• Other promotion tools include personal selling, exhibitions, sales promotions, publicity (public relations), and direct marketing, including internet tools.

Standardization vs. Adaptation

• Decisions need to be made about product standardization versus adaptation.
• Possible combinations include:
  • Standard product, Straight extension
  • Standard product, Product adaptation
  • Standard product, Product invention
  • Adapted product, Promotion adaptation
  • Adapted product, Dual adaptation

Seller-Buyer Relationship Development

• Initially, sellers use promotional tools to entice buyers. Most buyers require persuasion. Buyer-initiated sales are minimal.
• Over time, buyers become more proactive in seeking offerings. Quality of consumer and post-purchase experiences are important. Good experiences create brand loyalty.
• In the present/future, positive experiences lead to higher degrees of buyer initiative, which is reflected in reverse marketing (pull strategies).

Effective Communications

• Effective communication requires a sender to understand the message's purpose, the target audience (and how they'll interpret it), and how the audience will respond.
• Obstacles to effective communication include "noise" (like competitor ads), a poor fit between message and medium (e.g., wordiness in video), or disagreements between media and messages.

International Communication Process

• Factors influencing the communication situation include language, economic, sociocultural, legal/regulatory, and competitive differences.
• The process shows how communications flow from the firm/sender to the potential customer/receiver. The process also includes channels (e.g., mass media, personal selling), message translation, and feedback.
• Noise, such as competitor communications or distractions, is also a factor.

Typical Communication Tools

• One-way communication tools (e.g., advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing)
• Two-way communication tools (e.g., personal selling)

Advertising

• Advertising is a significant form of communication.
• International advertising is often limited to one-way communication, but there are difficulties in international markets.
• It is often the most crucial part of the communications mix for consumer goods.
• Mass media reaches a large number of small-volume consumers.

Advertising Decisions

• Objectives must be set (e.g., communication or sales objectives).
• Budgets must be decided (e.g., percentage of sales, competitive parity, objective and task).
• Message decisions need to be made (e.g., Unique Selling Proposition or USP).
• Media decisions (e.g., reach, frequency, impact, type of medium)
• Agency selections must be made.

Budget Determination Approaches

• Affordable approach/percentage of sales: Sets budget based on what the company can afford, usually a percentage of sales. Seems equitable in different markets but doesn't account for differences in marketing objectives, or new markets/products.
• Competitive parity approach: Sets budget to match competitors' spending. Is challenging because you may not fully know competitor spending, especially of private firms.
• Objective and task approach: Sets budget based on objectives, then determines the tasks needed to reach them, and then calculates cost. Logical and theoretically sound but not commonly used.

Communications Mix

• The tools used to communicate with potential or existing customers
• Tools can include advertising, social media, product packaging, direct marketing, websites, events, exhibitions

Message Decisions

• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): A singular characteristic of a product/service used in campaigns.
• Product differentiation: A technique to create campaigns for promotion.
• International campaigns: Can a campaign made domestically be used internationally?

Media Decisions

• Mass media or targeted approach – depends on the market characteristics and product.
• Mass media (television, radio, newsprint) is often very effective, when potential customers are a large segment of the general population.
• Media depends on the target market's characteristics and product attributes: demographics, psychological characteristics, regional strengths, and the seasonality of sales.

Media Selection Criteria

• Reach: Total number of people in a target market that are exposed to an advertisement.
• Frequency: The average number of times in a given time period that each person is exposed to an advertisement.
• Impact: Depends on the product/service being advertised and its suitability for the chosen medium (e.g., a visually compelling communication may be suitable for videos and sophisticated magazines, but not billboards); also consider customer characteristics and literacy.

Advertising Agencies

• Firms use agencies for advice and assistance.
• They have access to skilled experts like copywriters, translators, photographers, filmmakers, and media planners, with experience in the international field.

Advertising Evaluation

• Testing effectiveness is often more difficult in international markets due to distance, differing market communication conditions (e.g., interview conditions vary by country).
• Some firms use sales results to measure the effectiveness.

International Communication Policy

• This policy is a creative endeavor to successfully enter and thrive in foreign markets.
• A comprehensive plan with an explicitly defined plan (clear message, defined budget, departments), is required.

Final Exam

• Information will come from presentation slides, including one question from a lecture, and will be mostly multiple-choice, with some short-answer, true/false and put-in-order questions.
• 60% or higher is required to pass.
• Register for the exam through SIS (or system equivalent) and check locations, times, and dates.

Test your knowledge on international communication strategies and promotional tools. This quiz covers concepts such as product standardization vs. adaptation and the importance of culturally sensitive communication. Assess your understanding of how these strategies affect marketing across different markets.